COMMUNITY

City launches new service request system

(Posted Aug. 20, 2019)

The city posted this announcement today:

The City of Casa Grande is excited to offer residents a new online service request portal which will include a new mobile app.

This new system will provide citizens with a new and improved way to submit service requests, track ticket progress, and submit additional feedback directly to city departments ensuring better customer service.

Residents who see a non-emergency issue that needs to be addressed, such as a pothole, graffiti, non-working street light, uncontained trash pick-up, abandoned vehicle, illegal dumping, or other code violation can submit a request through the portal or mobile app.

Users are also able to include the pinpoint location and a photo of the request when submitting a ticket, allowing city officials to receive and resolve the request quickly and efficiently.

The city evaluated the prior system and decided it was time to upgrade to include a mobile app, allowing citizens an easier way to communicate to city staff in a timely matter.

Other benefits of this new app include a modern, simplified interface to enhance user experience, improved GPS mapping of service location, quick access to city news and social media. City staff will be able to monitor how quickly requests are being addressed and provide the customer with status updates.

CG seeking owner-occupied home rehab funding

Casa Grande is seeking $310,000 in state funds for the city’s owner-occupied housing rehabilitation program.

As outlined to the City Council during Monday night’s session, it’s a competitive process with other cities.

To boost the city’s chances of receiving the $310,000, Grant Coordinator Mary Allen told the council, Casa Grande will add other money available to it.

That includes $50,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds, $15,000 from the county Human Action Human Resources Agency for weatherizing of homes, and other sources for a total, with the state funding, of $465,000.

If that total amount is available, Allen said, the city hopes to rehabilitate four to six homes during the next year.

“We have an application process, we do determine eligibility financially,” Allen continued. “Also they have to live in their home for at least a minimum of six months.

“We are actually prioritizing the elderly, the physically disabled and it definitely has to be low to moderate income.”

The council vote was unanimous to approve applying for the state grants and to accept the updated housing rehabilitation guidelines.

Every 10 years, Casa Grande updates its General Plan, a guide to the future.

Final City Council approval was given Monday night to a $200,000 consultant contract with PLAN*et consultants for the latest update, going through 2030.

The council also adopted a public participation plan for the update and appointed a steering committee of residents from various business and community backgrounds.

As the current document says, the General Plan is a lengthy, comprehensive document that “includes elements that provide guidance for future growth and development” and “should be referred to when considering requests for rezoning and new development within the Casa Grande municipal limits and planning area. Each element includes goals, policies, strategies, maps and figures”s

During initial approved of the PLAN*et contract two weeks ago, Planning and Development Director Paul Tice said, “I might note that PLAN*et was involved with the last General Plan update. Leslie Dornfeld, the principal at PLAN*et, was highly involved as the project manager for our last General Plan and she has a consultant team consisting of a number of staff who were also involved with the last General Plan.

“Many of those same plan member, team members, were actually involved with the assistance team that recently visited for our downtown project, as well.”

According to the staff report, “The adopted public participation plan calls for the creation of a community-based steering forum whose role is to help steer the direction of the General Plan update process and to act as ambassadors and champions of the update to the various community groups/interests that they represent.

“Due to the large size of this group (25+) of people who are active in a number of different community affairs it is recommended that a quorum for meeting business purposes be defined as a minimum of 10. The meetings of the steering forum will be public meetings and as such staff will post notice of the meetings as well as take minutes that will be forwarded to City Council for acceptance.”

Future of Evergreen District irrigation again on hold

(NOTE: An earlier version misidentified those voting no. That has been corrected.)

Action to eventually end the irrigation system within the Evergreen Historic District was put on hold Monday night by the City Council pending further discussion.

The vote was 5-2, with councilwomen Mary Kortsen and Donna McBride opposed.

No date was set for future action or appointing a city/Evergreen users committee to discuss the problems.

Before the council was a staff recommendation to refund the $1,019 assessment to users made during repairs to the system pump in 2014.

As the staff report puts it, “The city will continue to operate the Evergreen Irrigation system with the current well, current pump and current flow of water until June 30, 2020, or if the system fails, whichever comes first. At that point, the system will be discontinued. With this refund, the city agrees to operate the system with no further capital repairs to the system.”

In the 1980s, the staff report continues, there were approximately 50 users of the system. In 2014, the number of users dropped to 26. Of those, 22 customers agreed to pay the $1,019 assessment to continue as users. There are currently nine active users in the system.

The report shows that during 2018, revenue was $13,318 versus $26,507 in expenses. So far this year, the report says, revenue is $5,356 versus expenses of $22,422.

The well, originally drilled in the 1920s, has had problems and the water delivery system also needs work, the council was told.

The system now is able to deliver about 100 gallons of water a minute, far below what is needed. In some cases, the council was told, that is barely enough to reach some users, or not enough to even water some properties.

“The costs of drilling a new well range from $394,893 to $592,408 depending upon the specifications desired,” the staff report says.

“This includes the cost of drilling the well and adding a new turbine pump assembly. This is assuming that the well could be drilled upon the current location; however, there are several other potential issues at the current location based on the size of the lot and proximity to houses. Any new well drilled would have to be permitted by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

“Public works has estimated the costs for new underground pipes to the delivery system at an additional $480,000 to $770,000, depending upon exact locations of pipe and construction methods necessary for installation.

“Under the provisions of the 1986 ordinance, if council assessed only the active users of the property, each property would need to be assessed between approximately $97,000 and $155,000, depending on the final cost of repairs to the system in order to drill a new well and upgrade the delivery system”

An alternative to closing the system, the report says, would be approving $1.4 million to completely rebuild the system, including $592,000 to drill a new well, $770,000 for a new delivery system, and $38,000 for contingency.

Banner hospital expanding Emergency Department

(Posted Aug. 5, 2019)

Banner Casa Grande Medical Center announced this today:

Banner Casa Grande Medical Center will begin work on a $10 million Emergency Department and Wound Clinic expansion this fall.

The expansion, part of an ongoing commitment to update the hospital, will add more than 3,300 square feet to the existing Emergency department, creating private triage areas and 12 more patient rooms to bring the total number of ED beds to 28.

The project will also put a second CT scanner in the ED, add more public restrooms, and expand staff storage and work space.

“As more people continue to move to our community, we want to make sure our Emergency department can handle their needs,’’ said Brian Kellar, CEO of Banner Casa Grande. “It’s our responsibility to make sure people have the best possible access to emergency medicine now and in the future.

“This expansion allows us to provide even greater access to emergency-care services.’’

The Banner Casa Grande Emergency department records more than 4,000 visits a month, making it the busiest ED in Pinal County.

The project’s first phase will move the current Wound Clinic to a more accessible space in the medical office building next to the hospital on Florence Boulevard. The second phase calls for the former clinic space to be remodeled into additional space for the Emergency department, Kellar said.

Planning and design have already begun, with construction expected to be finished by November 2020.

Emergency services will not be affected by the construction, Kellar said. Parking and ED access will remain the same.

The ED expansion is the latest phase in Banner’s updates to the Casa Grande campus, Kellar said. Since 2014, Banner Health has invested millions in facility upgrades, including opening a new Women’s and Infant Services unit and expanding the hospital’s pharmacy.

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Alternative recycle locations

(Posted July 12, 2019)

Now that Casa Grande has terminated its recycling program (in which only about 26 percent of customers participated), the city has posted this list of places that will take some recyclable items:

Skilled nursing facility a step closer

A proposal for a single-story skilled nursing facility at the southeast corner of a vacant area at Trekell and Kortsen roads is a step closer with City Council initial approval of changing zoning there.

The north part of the vacant land is now zoned as general business and the south as commercial office.

City Planner James Gagliardi told the council during its July 8 meeting that the present zoning categories would not allow a nursing facility.

“It can only be accommodated in other zone districts such as the R2, which is conditionally permitted,” he said.

These are the city’s definitions of the zoning categories involved in the request:

• R-2 – MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL

The purpose of the R-2 Zone is to provide for medium density housing in multiple-family structures and directly related complementary uses. The R-2 Zone is designed to allow an economical use of land while creating an attractive, functional and safe residential environment.

• B-2 – GENERAL BUSINESS ZONE

The purpose of the B-2 Zone is to provide for low intensity, retail or service outlets which deal directly with the consumer for whom the goods or services are intended. The uses allowed in this district are to provide goods and services on a community market scale and located in areas which are served by arterial street facilities.

• COMMERCIAL OFFICE ZONE

The commercial office (CO) zoning district is established to provide for well-designed and attractive professional, administrative, and business offices of a residential scale and character on sites in appropriate locations to serve the nearby residential and commercial areas. The commercial office zoning district is characterized by low volumes of direct customer contact and is designed to provide a transition of development between residential neighborhoods and more intense land uses, districts, and heavily traveled transportation routes. The principal uses permitted in this district are professional, semi-professional, administrative, and business offices, and branch offices for banks and similar financial institutions.

Because the proposed project butts up to the Cottonwood Ranch neighborhood, several comments were received from neighbors, Gagliardi continued.

(See link above to written comments)

“People definitely did not want to see multi-family, a lot of people requested that there be a limit of height at 20 feet,” Gagliardi said. “There was concern about proximity of parking areas to the back, also some questioning in regards to type of landscaping and screens to be created between Cottonwood Ranch and this new development.”

There is now a 30-foot landscape buffer on the Cottonwood Ranch side, he continued, and the 20-foot buffer on the nursing home side would effectively create a 50-foot buffer.

There were also questions about pedestrian access and an emergency access road, Gagliardi said, things that would have to be detailed by the developer as the process moves on.

“As a result of those concerns, staff came up with a list of recommended conditions that would be imposed on the zone district that would help minimize those concerns and help make this a compatible site with the Cottonwood Ranch neighborhood,” he continued.

They are:

• Except for single-family dwellings on individual lots, a major site plan shall be required to be considered for approval by the Planning Commission prior to construction of any use on this property.

• Development is limited to single-story structures with a maximum height of 20 feet for principally permitted uses and a maximum height of 28 feet for conditionally permitted uses.

• All buildings, other than accessory, shall be setback a minimum distance of 75 feet from this property’s south and east boundary. Accessory structures shall have a minimum setback of 20 feet.

• A minimum 20 feet landscape buffer shall be provided along this property’s south and east boundaries. Quantity, minimum spacing, and varietal type of landscaping, as well as any wall design and placement, shall be determined at the time of major site plan/preliminary landscape plan consideration by the Planning Commission.

• The site design shall address the concern regarding pedestrian access between this subject site and Cottonwood Ranch Tract ‘P’.

• Four-sided architecture is required, which is to include the use of masonry; door and window detail such as pop-outs, recesses, or ledges; and wall articulation of on all sides of principle buildings.

• Prior to any development, the subject property shall be placed in its own parcel or parcels, all of which shall be completely contained within the new R-2 zone boundary.

• Vehicular, utility and emergency access easements to the property, where needed, meeting City standards shall be recorded prior to the issuance of any building permits on this property.

Almost all of the vacant land is under the same owner, Gagliardi said, so there’s no issue with access, but the city want to make sure the access easements are created before issuing a building permit.

“Should this request for zone change be approved,” he continued, “the next step for the applicant is to go forward with a major site plan and conditional use permit to build their skilled facility.”

Voting for the initial zone change approval (with final approval expected during the next meeting) were council members Mary Kortsen, Dick Powell, Matt Herman, Bob Huddleston and Lisa Fitzgibbons. Mayor Craig McFarland abstained from voting and Councilwoman Donna McBride was on an excused absence.

Initial approval for expansion of CG's Main Library

A $765,100 expansion of Casa Grande’s Main Library at 449 N. Drylake St. was given initial approval Monday night by the City Council. Final approval is expected during the next council meeting.

The construction timeline for the project to add meeting rooms and widen a hallway show initial work beginning this month and final completion in early January of next year. The changes will be on the east and north sides of the present building.

Development impact fees of $720,000 and a $45,100 grant from Arizona State Library will pay for the work.

Steve Hardesty, community services director, told the council that, “The goals of the expansion project are several.

“It will provide additional meeting space for the public, provide additional rooms which currently are not available at the Main Library, it will provide staff with more flexibility and ability to serve public requests with more efficiency and it will invest our historical development impact fees into something that the citizens can realize.”

In showing the council sketches of the outside and interior work, Hardesty said the furniture shown will not necessarily be what is finally chosen.

“The actual furniture that will be selected has not been selected yet so the room could be configured into several different ways to utilize for the public,” he said.

Hardesty noted that there are study rooms at the Vista Grande Library “that are heavily utilized and our staff feels it would really expand our programs to have these study rooms available” at the Main Library.

Responding to a question from Councilman Matt Herman about landscaping not being in the construction contract, Hardest said, “We’re trying to value engineer the project to meet the budget, so that’s an area, landscaping, you can spend a lot of money, which our (city) staff can do utilizing their skills. It will not be less landscaping.”

$301,650 in community grants

(Posted July 9, 2019)

(Click on an organization name for services provided)

Community grants totaling $301,650 were approved Monday night by the Casa Grande City Council.

The staff report accompanying the agenda item points out that grants are the same as last year, except that, “The funding request for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Arizona increased by $30,000 due to an expansion of service. The Boys and Girls Clubs will oversee a Teen Program at the Community Recreation Center.”

The report adds that, “Each of these organizations provides a direct benefit to residents of the city of Casa Grande. Historically, each of the organizations listed has previously applied and been awarded funding support from the city.

“The city made applications available to the organizations for the upcoming fiscal year as well.

Each service organization submitted an applicant package which included a funding request, an outline of the services provided and a copy of their most recent financial statement audit.

“As shown in years past, the value of the impact that each of the services organizations provides greatly outweigh the monetary value, and represent a great investment to our community.

“The funding composition for this request includes $161,650 from the General Fund and $140,000 from the Youth Services - Dedicated Sales Tax Fund.”

Casa Grande Alliance poster for July

Community Impact award goes to Donna McBride

(Posted June 12, 2019)

Pinal County made this announcement today:

We are sending this out as a courtesy to ACRL

Arizona’s Center for Rural Leadership, commonly known as Project CENTRL, distributed select awards during its annual CENTRL Celebration June 8, 2019 at the Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino in Chandler.

The 2019 Outstanding Alumni Award for Civic Impact was given to Casa Grande resident and Pinal County employee Donna McBride, who was a member of CENTRL’s Class 18 from 2005-07

More than 150 people in attendance represented leaders from across the state who are alumni of the program, graduates of Class 27, the newly selected participants in Class 28 and members of the board of directors.

The Civic Impact Award recognizes someone who has taken the skills and networks they built during CENTRL and works to improve the common good of the community. Coincidentally, this year’s winner is from one our featured classes: Class 18.

She has dedicated her professional and volunteer life to public service. She currently is the mayor pro tem of Casa Grande, serving on the city council since 2016. What started as a volunteer position in Pinal County Juvenile Court, turned into a 15-year second career working with Court Appointed Special Advocate Unit. She helped create the Casa Grande Youth Commission and has been a part of just about everything in Casa Grande from the mayor’s reading to drug prevention (Casa Grande Alliance board president) to the Parks/Recreation and Police Advisory boards. As a reflection of her efforts, she was appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism.

In the words of one of her nominators: “she is a caring and generous person who is always going 100 miles per hour and works from sunup to sundown to help improve the lives of others.”

Project CENTRL is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization committed to improving the development of Arizona’s rural leaders and establishing a network of problem-solvers, decision makers and spokespersons for rural Arizona.

Each year it competitively selects 16 participants connected to rural Arizona for a 12-month, tuition-free training program delivered in Arizona’s rural communities, Sonora, Mexico, and Washington D.C. Participants build personal leadership skills, learn about the issues facing the state and connect with experts and other leaders. More than 650 people have graduated from program including six serving in Arizona’s 54th Legislature.